John Z.
1/5
The Grand Hotel in Nanaimo is anything but... this hotel is terrible! Recently my partner and I stayed at The Grand for Mother's Day as we were told by someone they had a good Sunday brunch for Mom's day. So we booked a night's stay the day prior to try and make a weekend out of it. When we checked in on Saturday evening, the front desk agent working was polite during the initial interaction, but the customer service quickly went downhill.
Once we got to our room, I called the front desk with two simple questions: 1). where the location of the ice machine was, and 2). could request some bathrobes.. When I asked if the ice machine was on the second floor, the response I received was, “No, you have to come down here to the front desk to get ice from the bar,” said in a curt and dismissive tone. While that policy is fine, it would be helpful if such details were clearly communicated or posted somewhere in the room or at check-in because, how else would someone know this?
I then asked whether we could have some bathrobes sent to our room, as I had assumed this would be a standard amenity. The staff member replied, “Robes are included in some rooms, but not all. Not your room. Are robes something you usually expect in a hotel?” I responded that yes, in my experience, they are commonly provided or available upon request. She then said, “Okay, I’ll try to find some,” and abruptly ended the call. For context, I booked the Deluxe Room which is a room above the Standard Room which is more expensive and not the baseline room.
When she arrived at our room, my partner answered the door, and the staff member handed over the robes without saying a word... no greeting, no smile, no courtesy. She looked my partner up and down, gave her a rude look and then turned around, and walked away. The interaction left us feeling unwelcome and as though we were a burden for making a reasonable request.
We had requested the robes specifically to use after enjoying the in-room jacuzzi tub... only to discover that the jacuzzi soaker tub wasn’t working. When I mentioned this at checkout, I was informed by another front desk agent that the jacuzzi tubs in the building were not operational and that I should have been notified at check-in (which I wasn't). Honestly, guests should have been told this when initially booking the room in advance, as the jacuzzi tub was one of the main reasons I chose the deluxe room over a standard option in the first place. It was also advertised as an available amenity on their website as well, even though they fully admit that the jacuzzi tubs weren't working in the building.
As for the mother's day brunch... while some of the food was fine (the bacon, for instance, was good), much of it was underwhelming given the $60 per person price point. The waffles were dry and tasted like cardboard, the eggs Benedict were overcooked, and several of the mousse and spread items were disgusting. While service during brunch was pleasant enough, the overall experience was way below standard.
I very rarely write complaint reviews, but I felt it was necessary in this instance. I also wrote The Grand an email about this and waited a few days for a response prior to posting this review, but never received one. They obviously don't care.
Don't bother spending your money here. They're rude and inconsiderate and make no effort to satisfy customer requests and will even hide information from you and then make you feel to blame for asking for the things that they are advertising and that you already paid. Tbh, I'd much rather stay at The Departure Bay Motel next time than stay at this dump again.
